Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Is Fastjet really a low-cost airline? This question has been asked several times by passengers flying Tanzania’s budget airline, but the answers have been confusing, sometimes misleading.

Think about these facts. If you booked your flight to Mwanza from Dar es Salaam seven days before travelling, the return ticket will cost you a whopping Sh696,000 if you don’t have any luggage weighing 20kg or more, which costs an extra Sh20,000. This means that a return ticket for a traveller with at least 20kg of luggage costs Sh716,000.

That is what happened last week, when Asha, a 34-year-old businesswoman, booked a Fastjet flight to Mwanza, hoping to travel next Sunday, on Easter, and return to Dar es Salaam on April 14, this year.

“I was shocked to hear that it would cost me that much money (Sh716,000) for a return ticket to Mwanza…is Fastjet still a low-cost airline?” she asked in a text message to The Citizen.

Monday, 30 March 2015

Arusha. Fastjet Tanzania starts flying between Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) and Entebbe in Uganda tomorrow as the budget airline cements its presence in the region’s growing aviation sector.

The Dar es Salaam-based airline is deploying its Airbus A319 on the route in a move that also seeks to promote KIA as one of Tanzania’s most promising international gateways, surrounded by the country’s tourism hotspots of Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Olduvai Gorge, Tarangire National Park, the Mount Kilimanjaro as well as the Arusha National Park on Mount Meru terrains.“We will offer three flights each week – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays – on the route,” the airline’s general manager Mr Jimmy Kibati said here at the weekend.

He said the decision to turn KIA into one of its bases in the country also stems from the fact that the airport is close to Arusha which is the headquarters of the East African Community (EAC).

“It is in this belief that we are also introducing flights between KIA and Mwanza starting from March 30, 2015 (today) where we will offer four weekly flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays,” he said.

Saturday, 28 March 2015

The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday decided to appoint an expert to investigate abuses suffered by albinos in East Africa. The 47-member council adopted by consensus a resolution establishing a three-year watchdog position. It expressed “grave concern at attacks and widespread violations against persons with albinism, including women and children, persons with disabilities and the elderly.”

The resolution, presented by Algeria on behalf of the group of African states, comes after UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein earlier this month decried a steep hike in attacks on albinos in East Africa. “These attacks are often stunningly vicious, with children in particular being targeted,” Zeid said.

The move by UN Human Rights Council comes when the number of incident of violation against people living with albinism, which include abduction, mutilation and even killing have started to surge in Tanzania. Last year, three such cases occurred each in Mwanza, Tabora and Simiyu regions, while this year one case was reported in Geita. In Mwanza, an albino child, who went missing, has not been recovered.

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

A resident of Old Misungwi Village in Misungwi District, Mwanza Region, Manota Doto, 45, has been sentenced to 60 years in jail as well as receiving six strokes of cane over two rape charges.

The man was given the punishment by the Misungwi District Court on Monday after it found him guilty of raping a 40-year-old widow as well as defiling her 15-year-old daughter (their names withheld) on the same day.

Reading charges at the court, the prosecution led by Assistant Inspector of Police Doroth Mgenyi alleged that the defendant committed the offense on April 8, last year, at Masawe Village.

It further told the court that on the fateful day, the accused man raided the complainant’s home at 8 pm raped the woman and defiled her daughter after he threatened to kill them if they cried out for help.

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development, William Lukuvi has launched phase one of the construction of quality and affordable houses in Buswelu on the outskirts of Mwanza.

The first phase will see a total of 30 houses constructed under supervision from the National Housing Corporation (NHC).

Speaking to journalists at the launch over the weekend, Lukuvi said the total cost of the 30 houses is 1.8bn/-, which NHC has secured from financial institutions as a loan.

He said the construction which started in January this year will take eight months hence end in September.

The minister assured that the project will be implemented as per the schedule laid out by the contractor and not otherwise. He said this will give NHC time to start the second phase of the construction which will entail 32 houses to tune of 3bn/-.

Friday, 6 March 2015

Geita. The husband of a 32-year-old woman with albinism is among four men (Photo to your right) sentenced to death for her 2008 killing in Nyamaruru Village. Zawadi Magindu’s attackers, who included her husband Nassoro Charles, cut her limbs and right hand with an axe and a machete.

High Court Judge Joacquine Demello ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the four committed the murder.

The killers are Nassoro Charles, a resident of Beda Village in Kagera Region, Masaru Kahindi of Nyamaruru Village in Geita Region, Ndahanya Lumola whose origin was not stated, and Singu Nsiantemi from Kakoyoyo Village in Bukombe District.

The four attacked the woman at 7pm as she ate dinner. Kahindi, a neighbour, and Magindu’s husband were armed with an axe and a machete. They chopped off her legs and right hand.

Said the Judge: “The attackers also beat and threw out of the house the mother of the deceased, Ms Magdalena Mashimba, and her granddaughter, Semen Hamisi. As they beat the elderly woman, her granddaughter--who was hiding behind the door--identified the attackers and their voices since there was moonlight on that night.”